Following last week’s burst of major economic headlines, which were mostly negative for mortgage rates, there was very little market moving news this week. Mortgage rates reversed a portion of last week’s increases, ending the week a little lower.

After last week’s fiscal cliff deal, Fed meeting, and Employment data, this week’s news had little impact on mortgage rates. Very little economic data came out this week, and the results for the Treasury auctions were close to average. A meeting of the European Central Bank (ECB) produced no surprises. In short, after weeks of high volatility, daily mortgage rate movements were relatively small this week.

The much anticipated Qualified Mortgage regulation was released this week by the CFPB. This rule, when first proposed, caused concern in the housing industry for how its requirements might overly restrict mortgage availability. As released, though, it should have very little impact on mortgage availability, and much of what will be required under the regulation (when it becomes effective a year from now) is common practice today.